Once a year in early March Thai Buddists flock to the town of Nakon Chaisi which is about an hours drive outside of Bangkok. The tattoo festival was started by an abbott Luang Paw Poen who died in 2002 and who's well preserved body can be seen at the Wat. They come to Wat Bang Phra to be tattooed by monks who are masters in the art. It is felt that the images of tigers, monkeys, lizzards, birds, and other animals after being blessed by the monk protect the individual from evil and so both criminals and police get the tattoo to protect themselves from bullets and other harm. On the first Saturday morning in March thousands of devotees sit in the scorching sun before senior monks who's prayers put the newly tattooed followers into a trance. The possesed animal spirit rushes toward the stage full of monks where they are intercepted by soldiers who gently capture, calm, and subdue the participant.